The present disclosure relates to a cold spray system and, more particularly, to material feedstock cartridges therefor.
Cold spray, also often referred to as dynamic solid state deposition or kinetic spray, is a process that uses compressed gas to accelerate powdered materials through a supersonic nozzle toward a substrate. The powder particles impact the substrate and consolidate through a process of plastic deformation. This plastic flow creates a cold weld between the incoming powder particles and the substrate.
Methods have been developed to increase the plastic flow to increase both the bond to the substrate as well as the deposit quality via layered application of peening material powders systems. The layers can be achieved in a production environment with several powder feeders, each with different blended powder compositions and a mechanism that switches between powders. In some instances, the blended powders do not settle and striate in the feeder such that inconsistent powders blends are sprayed. This may complicate effective application, as peening material powders may be as much as twice the diameter of the metal powder particles, which may decrease the deposit quality.
Cold spray systems have the benefit of being portable, which readily facilitates field repairs. However, the ability to properly maintain blend ratios and multiple feeders may complicate use in such field repairs.